Our audience, it has been a more difficult process for classical music audiences around the world, and I'm not completely certain why.

Of course, if you think of a European or American household in the '50s, so what were the things that when people started climbing up the ladder, what did they buy? A fridge, a TV, I think piano was the number three item in say '53 or '54.

If I were in a position to announce a public competition to coin a new word, I would do so right now.

The act of conducting in itself, of waving my arms in the air and being in charge, I didn't miss. I missed the sensual pleasure of being in contact with music.

Los Angeles is just a more open place. The way L.A. functions is that people give you a forum. They say, Show us what you can do.

The philharmonic became such a journey and adventure in my life, and a deeply satisfying thing.

Classic music somehow changed, and it changed between the first and the second world wars, and somehow what happened was that the hero that had been the composer, the hero now was the performer, and especially the conductor.